


Warm Up

by LesbianKeys, loveshroom



Series: CyberPunk AU [3]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Action Heavy, Comfort, Cyberpunk, Cyberpunk RWBY, F/F, Gen, Injury, Minor Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Minor Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose, Minor Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee, Nonbinary Blake Belladonna, Nonbinary Character, Other, RWBY Cyberpunk, Violence, hacker!blake, mute character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-22 14:43:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22717687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LesbianKeys/pseuds/LesbianKeys, https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveshroom/pseuds/loveshroom
Summary: "Sometimes, in a rare moment, one of them would win, an epiphany pushing them just a little bit further than the other- and that small edge would allow them to triumph. It never took long before the other caught up, and their tenuous balance was restored."Even when you’re new to Beacon, that doesn’t excuse you from the missions. They may be safe missions, but missions nonetheless. However, sometimes, not all is as it appears, and something that seems harmless.- might be just a facade.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose, Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Series: CyberPunk AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1622338
Kudos: 28





	Warm Up

**Author's Note:**

> Near the end, Neopolitan uses VSL (Vale Sign Language), delivered in glossing, a way to write sign language. It should be comprehensible, although the grammar is slightly different due to the differences between asl and english itself. Unfortunately, I have just begun to learn asl so I might have made some mistakes, but if someone can find them, I would be incredibly thankful if they were pointed out. Blake uses she/they pronouns depending on how they feel in our au which is why the pronouns switch after a small timeskip in the middle.

Team RWBY had found themselves in a large pickle. Their nonperishable food supplies were running low, and one of the few places they had yet to hit in the area directly around Beacon was the Schnee pickling center. It was supposed to be an easy mark, because why would a pickling center have trained security guards? It was supposed to be simple. Get in, load the transport up with barrels of pickled goods, get out. But of course, with team RWBY, things rarely were that simple. When they parked their transport near the loading bay, they noticed that the bay wasn’t locked with a mechanical lock, but a digital one. This was no match for Blake’s hacking, however, so they didn’t think much of it at the time. The second hint came when the door opened, and the so called ‘pickling facility’ took up barely half the size of the building, and appeared to be in a state of disuse. They had no plans on being deterred, so they slunk further into the building, unaware that they would soon find that not all was what it seemed.

* * *

Blake is jerked back into meatspace by a very, very loud alarm. They quickly unplug themselves from the door, disrupted from their recently completed hack, the alarm blasting in both of their sets of ears, before attempting to cover them with their hands. “Blake, come on, we can’t stay here!” That’s right. They weren’t alone. They look up at the girl next to them, Yang, and take her hand, pulling themselves off the ground with it. Ruby and Weiss had already dealt with the several autonomous turrets, and broke off to head down the newly opened hallway. Yang and Blake follow suit, catching up to the pair within moments. 

“I don’t think this place is a pickling factory!” Ruby yells over the alarm, blasting another turret, before the four of them turn the corner. The hallway leads to a flight of stairs, and they begin the descent, two or four steps at a time. 

“Well, we’re already here Rubes, might as well see what’s up!” Yang overreaches her jump, and her foot catches on the stairs causing her to roll down the last dozen steps. With every step Yang yells out a curse and soon slams into the floor. She swiftly recovers, looking up at the room she finds herself in as the others catch up to her. “Oh. Well. Fuck.”

The cavernous room is lined with what looks like medical gurneys, all new and shiny, several small computers beeping away with various lines of text only Blake would understand, and located next to each one were wires connecting each computer to their respective gurney. And on each of the beds, an unconscious person lies. Hundreds were in the room, all lined up, all plugged into intravenous feeding tubes. The group stood silently in the room, unable to speak, because none of them even knew what to say.

Weiss was the first to speak. “This- This isn’t a Schnee pickling center. This is one of the places-,” her voice hitches, ”this is where they test their drugs…” 

There was a fear, a rage, and a sadness all in her voice. A tinge of guilt, too. Ruby and Yang were stuck in place, staring. This was the place where the programs that their uncle relied on were tested and created. This was one of the places, in a sense, where they had lost him. Blake felt a familiar anger bubbling up. They had seen so many people lost to the _things_ developed here. They had seen people do terrible things for another executable. Blake’s face couldn’t hide the distaste for the place, and all it created, from their face.

Yang pushes herself off the floor, and shrugs a batch of gunpowder into her gauntlets. She looks to the others, each of them coming to an understanding with a single glance. These people couldn’t be saved from Schnee, but they could do some damage while they were here.

Blake unsheathes their blade, grasping the scabbard as well, with the scabbard’s guard sliding away to reveal a second, larger blade. Weiss readys her stance. Ruby spins her scythe off her waist, readying it. They’re about to start blasting, but stop as they hear the sound of heavy footsteps trudging quickly down the stairs behind them. Weiss and Blake nod to the sisters, knowing they have personal stakes in the destruction of those machines, and begin the ascent towards their enemies, trusting the two to do their jobs. 

Blake and Weiss had yet to fight together, their upbringings and families leading them to a natural antagonism when they first met. But Weiss has become a much better person, and, Blake could see, she was just as furious as they are. These people have had their lives stolen, and for what? 

Money? 

Power? 

The Schnee Corp already had all of that. What could be their game? Blake’s thoughts are abruptly cut off when the first shots ring out from above. In seconds, Weiss is hit in the chest by the first shot, and then in the knee by the second. She falls forward onto the stairs, and clings to her chest as she gasps for breath. The air is knocked out of her lungs, but she’s safe for now due to her a.u.r.a. Blake doesn’t have time to stay and help their friend, as the bullets were streaming out of the soldier’s guns in bursts. They dodge hails of bullets, strafing up the stairwell, before a lull in the fire gives them the opening they need. 

They take the last leap to the top of the stairs, and see the smile curling out from under the soldier’s visor just a moment too late. The opening wasn’t what they thought. The soldiers were smarter than they looked, luring them out with a clever ploy to make it seem like the guns needed time to cool. Two shots rang out from his barrel, and slammed into Blake’s chest. They’re hurled backwards into the ceiling of the stairwell, crying out in pain, before falling to the stairs. Blake begins to tumble down them as soon as they hit the ground. 

Weiss has recovered just enough to stand when she sees Blake tumbling towards her, so she pushes herself up and forces her body to intercept Blake’s as best she can. She catches them, stumbling with their weight, before a quick check to their a.u.r.a. system reveals that it was running low on power. 

Weiss turns, and rushes down the stairs, shielding Blake from the hail of bullets with her back. It hurts, but her shield system is still above half energy, and she wouldn’t let Blake get hurt. By the time the two of them make it to the bottom of the stairs, her own a.u.r.a. was getting dangerously low. She ducks to the side of the stairwell, panting heavily, the pain apparent on her face. 

Meanwhile, Yang and Ruby have gone to work on the computers, cutting, smashing, and destroying the computers housing the vile programs. When Blake and Weiss bust into the room from the stairwell, more than half of the computers have already been destroyed, spitting out sparks with frayed wires sticking out at every angle. Ruby and Yang stop their spree of destruction, and turn to the pair. Weiss’ voice is strained, but clear enough to the two, “they’re using ballistic weapons- didn’t expect that from Schnee. I don’t think we’re getting up those stairs, so we’ll have to draw them down here.”

Yang and Ruby rush to the pair, and Yang takes Blake from Weiss, checking for any visible wounds. When she sees none, she sets them carefully on the ground, and stands, a chill fury in her eyes. Ruby looks up the stairwell, and notes that the soldiers were slowly descending them, weapons at the ready,“they’re already coming, Weiss. If we want to prepare an ambush, we might want to hurry,” Ruby looks at Yang, who nods, before turning to Weiss.

“Weiss! Take Blake to the back of the room, we can’t risk them getting hurt,” Weiss takes another look at her a.u.r.a. meter, and stands. She picks Blake up in a bridal carry, and runs towards the opposite side of the room. Ruby and Yang position themselves on either side of the stairwell, Yang setting her gauntlets at the ready, and Ruby pointing the blade of her scythe towards the gap with her propulsion charges locked and loaded. 

It isn’t long before they can hear the pounding of armoured boots shuffling down the stairs. 

The footsteps go down several steps at a time, hard, before stopping. The girls can surmise from their caution that these soldiers are experienced. Yang and Ruby share a silent grin, knowing that very few soldiers have had the misfortune of facing a Beacon agent, and being able to still fight afterwards. their fighting style was sure to throw them for a loop. 

The two didn’t have to wait long for the first soldiers to poke the barrels of their guns out of the stairwell, but the girls were far enough away from the side for them to not notice them. They wait. Patience being a key tool in this occupation. In an instant, two soldiers quickly pivot, their guns pointing out towards Ruby and Yang, sliding out of the stairwell.

Everything starts to speed up.

When Ruby notices the gun barrels shifting, she squeezes the trigger of her Crescent Rose, and pushes forward with her legs. Yang presses her back against the wall, and Ruby launches herself forward with the blast. She has just enough time to register the surprise in the soldiers face through his visor before she flies past him and the other soldier leaving the stairwell. Ruby hooks them both with her scythe. With their armor and their a.u.r.a., she knows that she wouldn’t be cutting into them yet, so she swings her scythe around, throwing the two of them into one of the wrecked piles of machines. Ruby slides across the metal floor, before taking off towards the flung soldiers in a blur. The two soldiers crash into the pile of machines, tipping it over, and onto one of the unconscious people. 

The soldiers, seeing their two comrades pulled out of view, rush forward, intent on pushing past the choke point. In this rush of soldiers, Yang decides to make her move. Clenching her gauntlet, a smile spread across her face. She rushes forward, a loud bang emanating from her gauntlet, and lets her fist impacts the helmet of the slowest soldier, shattering it. The soldier flies forward, tumbling until Yang makes contact with the wall. 

The few remaining soldiers duck behind the ravaged wreck of computer systems, each of them poking their rifles from behind their barricades. One soldier, the one in command, presses the side of their helmet, and an amplified voice belts out over the sudden silence, “lay down your weapons, and surrender, or we will not hesitate to use lethal force.”

Yang puts up her middle finger, using it to pull the skin under her eye downwards, and sticks her tongue out, teasing the soldiers. One of them fires a bullet at her, which she dodges easily. A chain reaction follows, with a hail of bullets beginning to rain down on the girl. Not as easily as she would have liked, she manages to dodge the bullets, using her experience with Schnee soldiers to her advantage. Thankfully, the soldiers are focused almost entirely on Yang. Ruby knows this, and intends to use this to her advantage. It makes it easy for her to sneak around the firefight, sidling between the computer systems until the soldiers who had ducked behind cover to escape Yang were in her sniper sights. Three shots rang out, and three soldiers hit the ground. 

The rest of the soldiers snapped to the realization that Ruby was there. If they attempted to reposition away from Ruby, they would be exposing themselves to an attack from Yang. The groups unity shatters from this, and each of them ends up sprinting in scattered directions. 

Unfortunately, one of the members chose to sprint towards the back wall, where Weiss has begun to creep back towards the firefight. 

The soldier looks over their shoulder as Weiss makes her move. They never even see her coming. Weiss rushes forwards with her rapier pointed out, leaning into her thrust, and, in one swift motion, pierces the soldier’s armor. They jolt to a stop, their forward momentum only sliding them further along the rapier. Weiss presses a button for the blade to generate an electric current, only for a moment, just enough to knock the soldier unconscious. 

Weiss pushes them off her blade, disdain plainly displayed on her face. She takes cover behind another computer, waiting. Down the hall, Yang uses her gauntlets to propel herself up and over the computers. At the highest point of her arc, she fires her gauntlets once more, propelling herself towards the nearest enemy with great speed. She turns her body in an angle all too familiar to her, and dropkicks them. The soldier tumbles across the floor, their body smacking the ground multiple times, and once they stop, they push themselves off the ground shakily, dropping their gun. 

They raise their fists, and shift into a boxing stance. Yang grins, and does the same. This would be fun. 

The female soldier threw the first punch, snapping Yang’s face to the side. She turns her head back, still grinning, and jabs the soldier in the stomach. She follows it by kneeing the soldier in the same spot. The soldiers face betrays their pain, but Yang isn’t done yet. As the soldier doubles over slightly, Yang pivots, and strikes the side of their helmet with her elbow, a crack resounding over the gunfire. The soldier goes down. 

At the same time, Ruby is having a bit of trouble. Not with the soldiers themselves, but with hitting them. They move with the clear idea that Ruby is a much bigger threat than Yang, and have positioned themselves so that both the computers and the unconscious people were between them and Ruby. The three of them were being very cautious, barely poking their guns out from being behind their makeshift barricades to fire, although missing wildly as a result. Ruby doesn’t even bother to gain a better position, simply firing round after round at the exposed barrels of the gun. While most were missing the small targets, one of them hit, breaking the mass produced rifle in twain. 

A curse is heard over the gunfire, and the soldier whose weapon was destroyed stands, his hands over his head, “I surrender! Please don’t shoot!” 

Ruby shifts her stance, aiming her weapons towards the two holdouts to the right of the soldier, and he sprints towards the stairwell. Now that Yang is free, she launches herself towards the stairwell, planting herself between the stairs and the soldier. 

“I surrendered! Let me go!” The soldier yells, fear apparent in his voice.

“If we let you go, you call for reinforcements. Now be a good little Schnee pawn and take a nap,” her gauntlets let out a sharp bang, and her fist impacts his face, knocking him out cold. 

Weiss slowly sneaks through the room, and after what seems like a heart-pounding eternity, finally finds herself face to back with another soldier. Having had access to the schematics for Schnee body armour while under house arrest, she had done a lot of studying, and is easily able to make it through the small gap on the back of the knee. She stands to her full height, and presses in the trigger on her rapier. Electricity shoots through the metal, before Weiss jabs it into the soldiers knee. The sudden electrical current directly into their flesh causes the soldier to spasm, gun flying across the floor. It takes just seconds for them to collapse, unconscious.   
The last soldier, beset on all sides by the sisters, notices the gun sliding across the floor, and turns; Their gaze follows the rifle’s trail, only to see Weiss standing above the soldier with a blood tinted weapon. 

Two shots ring out, and Weiss goes down, her a.u.r.a. finally spent. 

Ruby’s voice cries out. “ _Weiss!_ ” 

She runs towards the soldier at full speed, and reaches him in record time. Ruby swings her scythe over her head in an arc, slamming the blunt side of the scythe onto his helmet. The cracking of plasteel resounds through the room, and he slumps to the floor. Yang and Ruby pant heavily, the rush of adrenaline wearing off. Ruby rushes to Weiss’ side to check her wounds. The bullets hadn’t pierced her skin, but it still looks like it will bruise badly. 

Ruby sighs in relief, and stands, “we’ve got to finish taking out these systems, Yang.” 

Her sister nods, and begins firing round after round into the machines, taking care not to hit the still comatose figures.

Remembering Blake, Ruby gets up and runs to the back of the room to get them. Weiss had propped them up against one of the computers, but as Ruby approached them, Blake seems to be coming back into consciousness. Ruby kneels next to them, and offers them a hand. Blake blinks, and groggily takes her hand. Ruby pulls Blake to their feet, but Blake wasn’t quite ready to stand just yet, and Ruby catches them as they almost fall over. 

“It’s time to go Blake.” 

They nod, and let Ruby help them walk back towards the stairwell. By the time they reach Weiss, Yang is done destroying the remaining machines. Blake has recovered enough to walk by themselves, so Ruby stoops down, and picks up Weiss. 

The girl is surprisingly light, and Ruby catches herself worried that she isn’t eating enough. 

“Let’s get out of here before more of ‘em show up,” Yang holds out her hands towards Ruby as if asking if she needs some help with Weiss, but she shakes her head.

The group begins to venture up the stairs. Blake and Yang look at one another, before following, the three of them quickly falling into a sprint. The facility flies by, their goal of pickled goods forgotten, and they burst out the loading bay before sliding into their transport. Yang turns the key to the vehicle, and they shoot out onto the motorways, just as another Schnee transport can be seen pulling up to the facility. 

Yang takes her time getting back on the drive to the headquarters, swerving through side streets and going in circles. Making sure that no vehicles are following them, and that the ‘sky’ is clear. Weiss comes to just as they pull into the vehicle storage, only to find herself leaning her head against Ruby’s shoulder. She shoots up, her face tinted a light pink, and looks away as Ruby giggles. 

Yang looks over at Blake next to her, then back to Weiss, “Alright, Blake, Weiss, it’s obvious that you guys need more training before we go out into the field again- but first, we get some food! I don’t know about y’all, but I am starving!” 

Ruby grins, and shakes her head in agreement as the four of them get out of the transport. 

“I could go for something to eat…” Blake looks to Yang, smiling.

“Well, would you like to join me, Blakey Wakey?” 

They punch her in the shoulder gently, rolling their eyes, but also nod.

“I’m just gonna get Weiss back to her room, and then I’m gonna crash in me and Penny’s room, alright Yang?” Ruby informs.

Her sister nods, and they head their separate ways, Weiss leaning on Ruby’s shoulder for support as they go.

* * *

Ruby and Yang, despite the difference in age, are evenly matched. Weiss and Blake have been watching the sisters fight for almost 15 minutes now, and the fight doesn’t seem to be dying down. Of course, both of them seemed to be growing weary, the light clearly showing the sweat coating their skin. 

The two watch intently, both because of their inexperience in battle, and entranced by the movements of their teammates. Ruby’s scythe is ill suited for fighting Yang with her hand to hand combat style, but she uses the kickback of the railgun within to keep up with Yang’s punches and kicks. Even with Yang’s own gauntlets increasing velocity and speed. Because of the size of her weapon, Ruby uses it as a pole to block Yang’s punches and fight back with her own, swinging around it, and letting her knee impact Yang’s stomach. The blow knocks Yang back a foot or two, before she launches herself forward in a feint attack. Ruby pulls her scythe around to block what she thinks is a real attack, but before Yang reaches her, she uses her gauntlets to launch herself up and over her. Ruby quickly turns. Bringing the grip of her weapon up to block the punch, but she’s too slow. Firing her gauntlets one more time, Yang launches herself downward at the girl. Her fist impacts the side of Ruby’s face, and she goes flying, dropping her scythe and hitting the side of the arena.

Weiss and Blake visibly wince, but Ruby soon recovers, pushing herself off the ground, and shifts into a hand-to-hand combat stance. Yang smiles, remembering when she taught Ruby how to fistfight, before hitting her fists together, mimicking Ruby. They circle around each other for a few seconds, before Yang makes the first move. She throws a right hook, which her sister dodges easily. Ruby ducks in and under the blow, and retaliates with a quick jab into Yang’s stomach, targeting the same spot that she struck with her knee before. 

Yang’s aura system protected her from the blunt of the blow, but Weiss and Blake still catch sight of her wincing slightly as the fist impacted her stomach. Yang reacts by bringing her knee up, hitting Ruby’s chest. But before it hits, Ruby manages to get in two more quick blows before being knocked back by Yang’s knee. 

The fight is finally getting to them both, each of their breaths fast and light as they separate. They trade several more blows, with Ruby feinting several times, but Yang doesn’t relent. That is, until Ruby appears to go in for another blow, causing Yang to bring her arms up to block, but instead of punching, Ruby goes further, darting behind Yang, and hooks her arms around Yang’s shoulders, before jumping onto her back. 

Yang squacks indignantly, and attempts to throw Ruby off of her. But once Ruby has her legs around her waist, it’s useless. She unhooks an arm from around Yang’s right shoulder, and takes a firm grip on Yang’s left arm, twisting it backwards. Yang yells out in pain, and slams her against the wall of the arena, but Ruby persists. 

“Yield! Yield Yang!” Ruby pulls up on Yang’s arm as she belts out her demands.

Ruby’s expression is somewhat crazed, and after almost a minute of Yang squirming in her grip, attempting to throw her off, she finally taps out. 

“ **_Yes!_ ** Hah! Take that Yang- Now I only have to beat you…” Ruby counts off lightly on her fingers, concentrating, before looking at the floor dejectedly, “11 more times and we’ll be even.” 

Ruby sighs, and slides off of Yang, wiping the sweat from her brow. “And now it’s your turn!” She turns excitedly, pointing to the two spectators. 

A terrified look appears on their faces, but Ruby rolls her eyes, “not against us, dummies. You’re going to fight each other! Go get your weapons.”

“Uhhhh…” Both of them let out, glancing towards the other.

Blake is the one to give in with a sigh, and begins the short walk to the weapons lockers. Weiss follows behind, clearly nervous. The sisters share an amused look, before Ruby helps Yang off the ground.

  
  
  


Blake and Weiss circle each other hesitantly, Weiss holding Myrtenaster in a fencing position, and Blake wielding Gambol Shroud in both hands. One held towards her opponent, and the other pointed at the floor. They both observe the other’s movements carefully, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. 

Yang taps her feet quickly, before having enough, and yelling. “Get on with it! The enemy isn’t going to wait for you to make the first move!” 

Weiss glances in her direction, and Blake takes that moment to strike. 

With Gambol’s blade in hand, she strikes the former heiress in the back of her knee, causing it to buckle. Weiss lets out a squeak of surprise, but quickly recovers, ducking under Blake’s sheath as it splits the air above her. 

Weiss lunges forward and up, quickly regaining her standing position, before turning to her opponent. She makes several quick jabs at Blake, each one swiftly blocked or parried by Blake’s two blades, before Blake unleashes her own ‘combo’, slicing at the girl with a speed almost unmatched. Almost, because Weiss parries almost all of them with an… ease? It’s like she had been in the exact same situation before, and indeed she had, although with but one sword wailing upon her. However, several of Blake’s attacks slip through, battering her and causing her to wince. Weiss sucks in air through her teeth. She was not one to give up easily though. Dropping her guard, she lunges forward. Blake hits her twice before she slips through the girls assault, and strikes her with the tip of her rapier, using the momentum from her lunge to follow up with a tackle, impacting Blake with her small frame. 

Blake stumbles backward, keeping herself from falling with Gambol’s sheath, but Weiss isn’t done yet. Despite her heavily depleted a.u.r.a., Weiss seemingly abandons any defensive measures, releasing a blitz of blows, piercing and stabbing at her opponent. Blake with some difficulty, dodges and weaves between them, the rapier glancing off her shielding. However, Weiss’ experience in battle rarely involves the use of her legs, unlike Blake. It isn’t long before Blake sees an opportunity, and takes it. She drops in closer to her opponent, and sweeps her off her feet. Weiss crashes to the floor with a yelp, and Blake places her blade against her throat. 

Weiss lets out an irritated sigh, but acquiesces, dropping her rapier., “this isn’t fair! She’s using two swords!” 

Blake shakes her head, and offers Weiss a hand, which she grudgingly takes.

Yang climbs into the arena, and grabs Weiss’ dropped sword, before throwing it to Ruby, “the ‘corps ain’t gonna be fair either, princess. You’re gonna have to learn how to deal with weapons besides those fencing swords. We might not have expected any resistance at that ‘pickling factory,’ or we would have done more training beforehand, but you’re going to have to fight multiple people at a time, or with fancier weapons than Blake here. So it might not be ‘fair’, but you’re going to train until it is, alright?” 

Weiss grumbles, but relents, climbing out of the arena. 

“For now, though, you still up for a fight Blake?” Yang hit her fists together, and Blake audibly gulps, readying her weapons.

  
  
  


“Don’t worry, Blakey, I won’t even use my a.u.r.a., so you have a chance!” Yang winks at the girl, who manages to somehow look even more irritated. 

“That’s not an advantage Yang, I don’t want to hurt you.” 

“Fine- fine. I’ll use it, but if you can get three hits on me, you win, alright?” 

Blake still looks nervous, but nods nonetheless, and backs away from Yang slowly. Yang waits a moment, before launching herself at her with a bang. Yang’s fist impacts Gambol, Blake quickly bringing it up to block. She’s pushed back by the force regardless. Yang rushes forward, throwing a right hook, which Blake ducks under and through, shifting Gambol into it’s kama configuration, and swiping at Yang. Yang's left gauntlet explodes, sending her in a cartwheel up and over Blake, who spins on her heels, facing Yang as she lands. 

“You can’t just think in two dimensions, Blakey. That’ll get you killed- Plus, there’s just no style in it, don’t you think?” Yang flashes one of her trademark toothy smiles, and notes that Weiss is- is Weiss actually taking notes? A look of confusion crosses her face, but is quickly wiped off of it when Blake’s elbow impacts her stomach. 

“One.” Blake counts off, and a smile flashes across her face, just for a moment.

“I would say that’s not fair- but I already reprimanded Weiss for that,” Yang brings her guard back up. 

Blake takes that as an indication to begin again. She knew Yang was right. She wouldn’t be able to beat her if she didn’t think outside of the plane of the arena. her eye catches the hooks and bars on the ceiling of the arena. She had seen them before, but thought they were simply an architectural oddity. Blake knows how to use them now though. 

Yang launches herself at Blake, who flips her kama around, and presses a button, firing the rope attached to its underside over and around one of the hooks. Blake falls to the side, gripping the rope so she doesn't lose control of her movement, and Yang flies past her, tripping on her legs and tumbling several feet. Blake easily pulls herself back to her feet with the rope, and began to run. Building up momentum for a moment while Yang recovered. As she stood, Blake pulled herself off the ground, swinging around, before at the height of the arc and at just the right moment, letting go of Gambol, and throwing herself at Yang, sheath clutched firmly in both hands. Yang brings her hand up, catching the sword in her left hand. Ruby and Weiss register the shock on her face for a moment, before Yang’s right fist impacts Blake’s stomach, and she goes flying, letting go of the sword. 

Yang tosses the sword aside, “if you’re going to telegraph your moves that much, Blake, you need to be much faster. If your opponent can see what you’re going to do, it won’t be hard for them to counter it.” 

Blake pushes herself off the ground, and nods, “still- that’s a hit. Two.” 

Yang rolls her eyes, and sprints towards Blake. Blake rolls to the side, and hops to her feet. A blast rings out, and Yang spins, her momentum still carrying her forward, and her fist slammed into Blake, knocking her back once again. But the onslaught didn’t stop there. Without either of her weapons, Blake could do naught but run and take the hits, and take the hits she did. Until she noticed Gambol, still hanging from the hook, right beside her. Blake lunged, grabbing it, and spun, before her back hit the ground, instinctively firing a bullet from the weapon, straight at Yang. Who managed to dodge it, but just barely, and rips the weapon from Blake’s hand. 

“It’s over Blake. Plus- if my a.u.r.a. was low that could have killed me!” 

Blake just looks at her, surprised, before tears start to well up in her eyes.

“Wait wait wait- No don’t cry-.”

“I-I’m sorry Yang- I just- It was instinct. I didn’t mean to- I’m sorry-” Blake spits out as she curls into a ball. 

Yang stands there for a moment, stunned, before she gets on her knees, and wraps her arms around Blake, “it’s okay Blake. It’s okay.” 

Weiss and Ruby jump into the arena, and rush over. Weiss bends over, and places a hand on Blake’s shoulder, while Ruby falls to one knee behind her, before wrapping her arms around Blake’s waist. They each stay there for a while, reassuring Blake that they aren’t mad at her. Blake’s sniffles and sobs eventually die down, but not before Ruby pulls Weiss down to their level, and makes her grab one of the faunus’ hands. 

“Why- why aren’t you angry at me? I could have hurt-,” Blake starts.

Yang took Blake’s face in both of her hands, and stared right into her golden eyes,“but you didn’t Blake, everyone is fine. I’m fine. We aren’t mad. I promise.” 

The tears started up again in her eyes, threatening to spill into sobs. 

“It’s okay to cry Blake- but we’re here for you, alright?” Yang pulls her in for another hug. 

And this time Blake hugs back. 

Ruby and Weiss let go of her as she pulls herself closer to Yang. Blake sobs into her shoulder as Yang softly strokes her hair, humming lightly. 

* * *

Weiss and Blake, after those matches, start to spar every day, and surprisingly, they appear to be great foils for each other. Despite Weiss’ weapons clear disadvantage, she was quickly able to pick up on Blake’s ticks. She learned to make use of her surroundings, while Blake used Weiss’ own learning as a springboard to make herself more unpredictable, more agile. The sparring frequently ended in a stalemate, as each of them either tired, or landed a blow at the same moment. 

But sometimes, in a rare moment, one of them would win, an epiphany pushing them just a little bit further than the other- and that small edge would allow them to triumph. It never took long before the other caught up, and their tenuous balance was restored.

* * *

Blake and Weiss stagger into the common area, panting and sweaty, and prop their weapons up against the wall. They lean against the wall as well, for a moment, before noticing the group chatting on the couches, and heading towards them. Pyrrha looks up at the two of them, and greets them with a smile, “heya! Have a good match?” 

They both nod, and collapse into the couches. Blake sits next to Yang, while Weiss plops down on the same couch as Penny and Ruby. Each of them relaxes, looking as though they are sinking into the cushions, and giggles can be heard from all around. Then, and only then, do the two of them notice the _incredibly_ small girl sitting in a much too big armchair. 

The girl moved her hands quickly, facing Yang. ‘ **NEW GIRL WHO?’**

Yang turns to look at Blake and then Weiss, “oh yeah, you guys haven’t met yet. This is Blake, and that’s Weiss. Weiss and Blake, meet Neo, one of our best infiltrators.” 

Weiss and Blake give a little wave, and Neo returns them with an overexaggerated faux bow. 

Yang continues, “she is also in charge of teaching our new recruits VSL, so we can use it in stealth missions, so you’re both going to be spending some time with her.” 

The girls nod, their exhaustion apparent in their unfocused eyes. 

**,ANYWAYS, WE WHERE?,** Neo signs to Yang, and she prompts her on where she had left off. 

Neo’s hands are a flurry of motion, and all but Yang and Ruby seem to lose track soon enough. They all turn to their own conversations while Neo updates the sisters on her mission. Weiss slowly drifts off, tired from the fight, her head falling lightly onto Ruby’s shoulder. Ruby just smiles, rubbing her hand slowly through Weiss’ hair, before she turns back to Neo. Blake, for her part, doesn’t fall asleep, but she does lean on Yang, lazily listening to the background conversations.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to our beta readers Wrathgender (https://archiveofourown.org/users/wraithgender) and Ashley! (Don't know their account.) This fic is set in me and loveshroom's Cyberpunk RWBY Au, which can be found at this link! --> https://cyberpunkrwby.tumblr.com/
> 
> This is actually my first time writing combat, so I hope I did okay, but if anyone has some critique I would love to hear it!
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!


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